How The Pacers Exploited Damian Lillard On Both Ends To Win Game 2

The Indiana Pacers are intimately familiar with Damian Lillard’s playoff heroics. During his four games against the Pacers in Milwaukee’s 4-2 loss last postseason, Lillard averaged a sparkling 31.3 points and 5.0 assists per game on 64 percent true shooting. This time around, the Pacers have proven ready for Lillard’s deadly offense.

Lillard miraculously returned after healing from a blood clot, playing for the first time since mid-March. Indiana didn’t let him breathe and he scored just 14 points on 13 shots while adding seven assists. He certainly didn’t look like himself athletically, but head coach Rick Carlisle and his staff game-planned brilliantly to make his life hell.

The Pacers Made Lillard Work Defensively

Though Lillard struggled by his standards on offense, he boosted Milwaukee’s offense through his sheer presence as a shooter and slasher. Indiana relentlessly hunted him on defense, forcing the 34-year-old to guard the ball and cover ground as a helper. Lillard traveled 1.23 miles on defense in Game 2, up slightly from his regular-season average of 1.16.

Increasing Lillard’s defensive workload paid dividends for Indiana. The Bucks allowed a scorching 132 offensive rating throughout Lillard’s Game 2 minutes, largely due to Indiana’s insistence on making him guard.

For Milwaukee to survive Lillard’s minutes defensively, there are two possible adjustments which could make the most difference. Switching was the Bucks’ primary ball-screen coverage in Game 2; they switched more than in any other game this season, forcing Lillard to defend tougher matchups and move off the ball.

Few NBA offenses target mismatches in the post as well as Indiana does. When Milwaukee switched Indiana’s ball-screens, especially with Myles Turner, the Pacers zipped the ball around the perimeter to find an optimal entry point. It’s an unfair ask for Lillard to wrestle with a 7-footer in the paint and the Pacers generated efficient offense on these plays.

Indiana hunted Lillard on these switches, especially when he found himself matched up with Myles Turner. The Pacers move the ball around so purposefully to enter to their big man for easy points: https://t.co/8bjo7CpsXy pic.twitter.com/y4JZPo6RJf

— Sportscasting NBA (@SportcastingNBA) April 23, 2025

Milwaukee attempted to “scram” Lillard out of unfavorable matchups, switching him off the ball after a screen to protect its defensive infrastructure. The Pacers were ready for this, whizzing the ball around the court to outpace Milwaukee’s defensive rotations.

Lillard isn’t the only problem point for the Bucks, as their slew of poor perimeter defenders makes scram switching challenging. If Lillard can’t recover in time, the Bucks often won’t navigate the space necessary to help and rotate — a problem compounded by Indiana’s seemingly endless supply of snappy decision-makers and dangerous shooters.

The Pacers’ collection of excellent passers helped them consistently beat Milwaukee’s off-ball switching. When they tried to ‘scram’ Lillard and other weak defenders away from mismatches, Indiana punished the Bucks accordingly: pic.twitter.com/EQBhCH9nDf

— Sportscasting NBA (@SportcastingNBA) April 23, 2025

How The Bucks Can Adjust

Especially when Lillard and Brook Lopez share the floor, the Bucks should move away from their switching defense. Indiana is too potent a driving team to leave their poorest point-of-attack defenders on an island. Mixing in more hedging, trapping and at-level coverages could at least confuse the Pacers’ offense and force them away from their preferred actions.

The Bucks should replace some of their man-to-man switching with more zone defense, which has consistently flummoxed Indiana. The Pacers struggled to crack zones in the regular season, scoring 0.939 points per possession against zone, compared to 1.061 against man, according to Synergy. They create open looks against zones, but for whatever reason, they aren’t decisive in scoring amid the soft spots.

The Bucks took advantage of this Tuesday and logged 13 zone defense possessions, which is more than double their regular-season average (6.1). These possessions were largely effective. They held the Pacers to 1.00 PPP on those 13 half-court zone plays, down from 1.190 on Indiana’s 79 half-court possessions against man defense.

Milwaukee’s 2-3 zone allows Lillard to rest on defense, limiting the scope of his responsibilities. It helped funnel Indiana toward Lopez at the rim, where he can shut off its water at the hoop and stay away from the perimeter. Until Indiana cracks their zone, the Bucks should consider running it even more often.

The Bucks logged 13 half-court zone defensive possessions against the Pacers in Game 2 for a 1.0 PPP, compared to 1.19 for the half-court man possessions.

MIL already doubled their reg szn zone frequency (6.1 poss/g), but they might have to dial it up even more in future games. pic.twitter.com/bWFVcw7xsu

— Sportscasting NBA (@SportcastingNBA) April 23, 2025

The Secret Sauce Of Indiana’s Defense

Lillard’s life wasn’t any easier on the offensive end. The Pacers brought the same intensity to defending him as they did punishing him with their own offense. Unlike the Bucks, the Pacers didn’t allow Lillard to hunt favorable matchups. They constantly sent two bodies at him, defending ball-screens with high hedges, shows and occasional traps.

Indiana conceded open 3-pointers from other Bucks and Lillard capitalized on that to the tune of seven assists. Milwaukee generated efficient offense beyond the arc, making 38.2 percent of its triple. Lillard consistently found shooters popping for threes after Indiana forced the ball out of his hands.

But Indiana seemed content allowing Milwaukee’s complementary players to win rather than Lillard or Giannis Antetokounmpo, the latter of who is virtually unstoppable in this matchup. The Pacers coaxed 38 combined field goal attempts out of Bobby Portis Jr., Kyle Kuzma and Kevin Porter Jr., something they’ll likely accept compared to Lillard detonating.

Though Indiana took a team-centric approach to defending Lillard, Andrew Nembhard deserves individual credit. According to NBA tracking data, Nembhard checked Lillard for a hair over 8.5 minutes (43.7 partial possessions). He blanketed a storied playoff buzzsaw, holding Lillard to seven field goal attempts and 3-of-7 shooting. It’s nearly impossible to erase a player of his caliber, but Nembhard’s size, elite balance and body control helped make Lillard’s life a nightmare.

As Lillard shakes the rust off, he’ll likely push the Pacers’ defense more than he did in Game 2. He left a few open triples on the table and Indiana must continue to defend him sharply. Lillard is too lethal a playoff scorer to fully eliminate for an entire series.

If the Bucks hope to claw their way back into this series, they must tweak their defensive approach. Antetokounmpo will continue to dominate but they need Lillard’s offense to have a real chance at winning, just as Lillard needs help from his defensive scheme and coaching to survive against a dynamic Pacers offense.